Spanish is currently offered as an ab initio two year GCSE course for students in Year 10 and most students in this group will be dual linguists. A level Spanish is also available and students at both A level and GCSE level have enjoyed considerable success, with students going on to study languages at university. From September 2016 the exam board used will be AQA for both GCSE and A level.

Exciting changes to the curriculum which will take effect in September 2016 include Spanish being offered for the first time to students in Year 9, which will give them the chance to learn the basics before opting for the GCSE course, if they wish, in Year 10. Most students will study two languages in Year 9 and Spanish has proved to be a very popular choice. There is one full-time specialist teacher of Spanish, with one other teacher who can also offer some Spanish.

Help is available for students at both GCSE and A Level from our Spanish assistant who has worked with us for a number of years. Additional help can be arranged for older students to mentor younger students. GCSE and A level students have also organised and led Year 8 and 9 Spanish clubs.

The two year GCSE course provides challenge for the more able. Students build upon their existing knowledge of how languages work and enjoy an accelerated pace. We aim to stretch students in lessons: grammar can be studied in depth and online resources may be used. Exercises from www.languagesonline.com are useful for differentiation and challenge.

Every two years the Spanish and Art departments offer a cultural visit to a Spanish city for students in Year 11, 12 and 13. In February 2015 28 students spent a long weekend in Madrid, where they visited the Reina Sofía and El Prado art museums, home to many iconic pieces, including Picasso’s Guernica. Spanish students particularly enjoyed visiting our link school in Madrid, meeting students and penfriends. Two years ago we visited Barcelona, where we were able to appreciate the unfinished cathedral of Gaudí, as well as visiting the Salvador Dalí museum in Figueres.

There is a wide selection of films available to borrow from the school library. Mary Glasgow magazines are offered each year for students to purchase.

Each year there is a ‘Christmas card’ exchange, with classes in KS3 exchanging cards with classes in our link school in Madrid.